New Mbuna Tank

[Ferris]

Hi all,

I am in the process of setting up a new Mbuna tank and currently have 2 small Cichlids in there. I also have 1 bala shark, 1 sailfin pleco and 3 clown loach in the tank, which I have had to move from my smaller tank due to their potential size. The 2 Cichlids I have are tiny (approx 1 1/2 inch) and all future Mbuna I buy will all be at this size.

My question is will the bala shark etc be OK with the Mbuna? given that they will all grow up together (hopefully) and all Cichlid additions will be far smaller than the bala etc. Currently the bala shark is approx 3 inches, the pleco is approx 5 inches and the clown loach are all approx 2 inches.

The tank decor is all rock based and the Ph is 7.8, which will hopefully be O.k for the different requirements although I accept that this is really geared towards the Mbuna.

Any advice or info will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[Ferris]

Sorry, forgot to mention that the 2 small Mbuna are currently fine with the others and both follow the Bala shark everywhere. My main concern is what will happen when the Cichlids are fully grown. I am hoping that the agressiveness will be balanced by the fact that they will grow up together.

Thanks again

 

[semper fi]

do you know what type of mbuna it is. that will help to determine how aggressive it could potentially be.

sf

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Bala sharks are pretty laid back, I would be concerned with the mix, but I can't actually say whether it will work or not.

 

[Ferris]

The 2 Cixhlids I have at present are Pseudotropheus saulosi x1 and Pseudotropheus socolofi x1. While we are on the subject, can either of you recommend any other compatible Mbuna?

I guess I'll have to see how everyone gets on together and be prepared to buy another large tank if needs be.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Ferris]

Also if anyone else has any suggestions, they would be more than welcome!

 

[semper fi]

you could stick with the pseudo species. would have to keep an eye on the sharks though. would reccommend getting trios is possible of them to keep the aggression down. they are about mid range as far as aggression goes. you will have to watch out for crossbreeding with the pseudo species as they are known to do so. rockwork will be important as that is their natural habitat. might want to silicone the rocks together so no one does get crushed.

how big is your tank?

 

[Ferris]

The tank is a 55 gallon, its 4 feet long but is deeper than normal. My original idea was to get 1 of each species to avoid the agreesiveness of brooding parents, what do you think?

 

[thecichlidaddict]

That can work, but then again sometimes it can work against you, a whole tank of males that want to breed but have nothing to breed with!

In the end whether you go with breeding groups or singles you still need to select species appropriately.

Kingzac's a friend? I deleted those posts as spam.

 

[Ferris]

If anyone else reads this, I would still welcome any additional advice!

Thanks